To be Mad In A Deranged World Is Not Madness, Its Sanity
by JustAnAccountx
Summary: Test subject 10 is working with Brenner. They want more than just Eleven. They want a baby, her soon to be child that they plan to grow inside of her. El disappeared 6 years ago and now escaped from a mental hospital. El has no memory of her past and her behaviour is completely feral, wild. Can Mike and her friends help El, protect her or will their past catch up with them?
1. (1) Escape The Hospital

This story takes place 6 years after Eleven defeats the Demogorgon and vanishes into thin air. As much as I love season 2 of Stranger things, this story is post season 1.

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"Yes, sir. We'd need to speak with Chief Jim Hopper urgently please. Its an emergency!" Doctor Westley panicked over the phone.

"Ok, I will get him now, please hold on a moment" An 18-year-old Mike Wheeler replied from his office at the Hawkins Indiana police station.

It has been six years since his El had disappeared into thin air without a single trace. As a child he'd search for her each night, think about her constantly and truly believed that she would come home. The longer time went on, the less he'd search, the less he'd hope and sadly, it wasn't long before there were days that El wasn't the first thing on his mind each morning as he woke. By the time Mike turned 15, he got his first official girlfriend who turned out to be one of many. At first it was hard for him, hard to kiss another girl without the sudden pang of guilt that stabbed him in the heart, and after some time, the guilt eventually stopped. Mike forgot about the four-year anniversary that he'd met and lost El. He then forgot the fifth, and then the sixth. He never forgot about her though, the girl who gave up her own life to save the three boys that she'd known for only a week. He still loved her with all his heart. Her wide, innocent sad eyes and that kind small smile. Mike decided that maybe he wouldn't have to feel as though he was replacing her whenever he's kiss a girl, El was kind, Mike knew that she'd understand that in order to carry on, he'd have to try and move on with his life. So here he is, an 18-year-old Mike Wheeler working for Jim Hopper, a good friend of his. The chief police of Hawkins Indiana.

"Hey Hopper! Doctor Westley from Willowbrook State Psychiatric Hospital needs to speak to you. He says its an emergency." Mike told him. Hopper took the phone from his hand.

"Chief Jim Hopper speaking, what's the problem?" - "Oh…" - "And what time was this" - "Ok I will send some of my staff" Hopper finished his conversation.

"What's going on?" Questioned Mike. Hopper sighed.

"One of the patients from Willowbrook have escaped" He replied.

"You want me to go down there?" Mike asked him.

"No, you go home, you're shifts over. I'll send some of my other staff down and I will call you if we need backup" Hopper ruffled Mike's mop of dark curls.

El stood at 4 foot and 11 inches tall due to the toxic atmosphere from the upside down that turned her brain to mush and the lack of food that she'd digested. It had been six years since 1883 but El doesn't remember any of it. She also doesn't remember escaping the upside down through the mini portal in the woods (The one Nancy went through in season one). She doesn't remember after she exited the evil dimension, being so week and hungry to the point she could hardly hold her own weight. It was 1884 that she had returned to the right side up only to be hit by a car the second the exited the woods. A speeding car that belonged to a reckless driver who never even stopped to check that she was ok. The accident left El with brain damage, zero memory of her past. Not even her powers. The only clue to her past life was the monster in a white coat who would visit in her dreams each night before she'd wake up screaming. While the car accident left her without memory, the toxic environment from the upside down had messed with her head. The doctors had decided that she was mentally unstable before admitting her into a psychiatric ward long term. The unnecessary psychiatric medication given to her would only mess with her mind further as well as the influences from the other patients.

Eleven wondered around the woods, it had been so long since she'd experienced this freedom. Everything fascinated her, the flying birds, leaves being flown away by the wind. She saw a squirrel and had the sudden urge to catch it. She sprinted over but before she knew it, the squirrel climbed right to the top of a tree. El was still eager to catch the squirrel as she tried to climb the tree herself but ended up falling with a thump. Eleven then saw a store peeking behind the dozens of trees. She saw people, lots of them. As much as she'd like to catch the squirrel, she was undeniably hungry.

El sprinted through to the end of the woods, hiding herself behind a tree. People scared her, most of them do anyway. Only yesterday did a girl throw an orange at her head back at the hospital. El didn't know why. I don't think the girl herself knew why she threw it either, she just did. El of course got upset and viciously attacked the girl, biting her arm and scratching her face. For that she was dragged into a white room and held in restrains behind a one-way window. Although it had been five years since being trapped inside of another dimension, her feral behaviour was still extremely evident.

"Hey Mike" Greeted Will Byers, his roommate.

"Hey Will, how's your painting going?" Mike questioned.

"Pretty well, I think so anyways" Will told him with a nervous chuckle, suddenly feeling insecure about his work. Mike noticed this instantly.

"Hey, relax. It looks great" Mike smiled. "So, what should we get for dinner, it's getting late and I'm kind of hungry"

"I'm not sure, want to just order a pizza?" Will suggested.

"Sure, just don't tell our moms" Mike said with a chuckle. When Mike and Will decided to get an apartment together, there moms predicted that their boys would just eat take out and never clean up the place. Mike and Will didn't want to admit it, but their mothers were right. On the side in the kitchen were stacked up pizza boxes. There was no point for either of them to own a wardrobe as most of their clothes lazily remained in the middle of their bedroom floors.

"How was work" Will questioned without looking away from his canvas.

"It's been quiet as usual except from just before I left. Turns out some patient from Willowbrook has escaped." Mike told him.

"Jeez, do you think they'll find him. or her?" Will asked, interested.

"Probably, apparently the girl who ran off is only 4'11, or something like that. She'll only be a kid." Mike told him feeling a little uneasy. _A place like Willowbrook must be extremely scary for a young girl, no wonder she ran off._ Mike thought. Will gave him a sympathetic smile, he knew Mike's job was hard at times. Last week Mike had to arrest a man who stole multiple things from a store. The sad part was, the man was homeless and didn't have many alternative options beside starving. But none the less, Mike had a job to do and he got it done.

"They'll call me if they need backup" Mike told him.

El had now been cowering behind the tree from about twenty minutes. She suddenly felt paranoid, watched. It scared her. Sometimes she'd sense that someone was after her, not the hospital and police out to bring her back, but someone else. She just doesn't know who. El wasn't entirely sure why she ran away from the hospital. She just got sick of being cooped up all the time, its depressing. She doesn't like the hospital much. The doctors always shout and the guy in the room next door to her makes a lot of noise. She doesn't like the needles they stab her with to calm her down or the disgusting medicine they'll force feed her if they have to. Mostly, she hates when they punish her. El gets in trouble a lot and they don't hesitate to use their cane. El finally get bored of waiting, not that she knows what exactly she's waiting for. El crosses the road and makes her way into the store, receiving strange looks from people. El was still wearing her hospital gown which was now dirty. Her hair that went just past her jaw was all knotted and wild. El growled at the prying eyes, somewhat like a wolf. The people exchanged some concerned, confused and strange looks. El's eyes suddenly land on several boxes of eggo's.

"What should we do" One of the cashiers questioned the manager as El raided the frozen isle.

"Call the cops" He told her.

El tore opens the box and carelessly ate the familiar snack frozen. El doesn't remember the food but something about it just seems familiar. It makes her feel safe in a way. Nostalgic.

"Umm, young lady, you know you have to pay for those" The manager says while stepping towards the hungry girl. El glared at him and all the sudden the man went flying backwords. The people present in the store gasped. El had no idea what just happened but she wasn't complaining as she gobbled down what she thought to be her new favourite food.

"I called the police, they're on their way" The assistant whispered to the manager, "Turns out they're looking for a girl who fits her description."

Suddenly a gang of cops walked into the store and immediately grabbed Eleven and secured handcuffs around her wrist as El tried to fight them off. Soon after the chief walked in and without looking over in El's direction, spoke.

"We are extremely sorry for this inconvenience, thank you for calling" Hopper told the manager then turned his head to face El. Suddenly he went pale, like he'd seen a ghost.

"Should we drop her right back off to the hospital chief?" Questioned one of the police. Without taking his eyes off of Eleven he told them

"I will take her back to the station, call Michael Wheeler and tell him to come over" Hopper ordered.

"Yes sir" one of the police men agreed, slightly confused as to why they needed to bring her back to the station. El continued to fight off the cuffs before Hopper kneeled down before her.

"Hello El" He greeted carefully. El eyed him, getting the feeling she knew him but couldn't figure out who he was.

"Will you come with me?" He asked her gently. El nodded, she felt safe with this man. She didn't know why, she just did. She then turned and saw the crowd of people watching the show and growled once again.

"Come on" Hopper lead her into the police car, helping her inside of it carefully, being sure to be gentle.


	2. (2) Reunion

**Hey, I'd like to tell you that I have already planned out the whole timeline of the story so that I wont get bored, run out of ideas and delete it. I already wrote the ending (You might have to mentally prepare yourself for it, its both happy and sad). I'm taking requests for anything that** **you'd like too see/read in the story. I'll also tell you now that Lucas and Max have a two year old daughter and I'll happily take requests for her name** **before I introduce her.**

 _ **(( Read and Review 3 )) Ps- if you have a problem with the way I write any of the characters than please tell me. :))**_

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"Where are you going?" Asked Will who be looking over at Mike, whom was frantically rushing around, concerned.

"I have to go down to the station urgently, its chiefs' orders" Mike told him while tying his shoes as quickly as he could.

"Did he not tell you why?" Questioned Will.

"No, but I will find out. Must be bad for the chief to call me back to the station at this hour" Mike said while checking his watch.

Hopper led El into a small room that would often be used for interviewing and taking statements. The room is small but the plain white paint makes it look bigger than it seems. Hopper was still in shock. He thought she'd died. He knew it was Eleven by her tattoo. Of course, he'd recognise those eyes anywhere, anyone would, but the tattoo was the main giveaway.

He was scared of how Mike would react as he knew how hard he took it when he'd lost her all those years ago. Hopper remembers the regular phone calls from Karen Wheeler reporting her son missing; turns out Mike would still be looking through the woods for the missing girl at 3am. The chief never has and never will forgive himself for selling her location out to Brenner as he did. Sure, it was the only way to get will back but that shouldn't have been his only focus. It wasn't until after he made the deal with the devil that he'd realised that he'd literally sacrificed one child to save another. He knew it wasn't fair but he and Joyce were so dedicated to finding Will that they didn't take a second to step back and look at the situation in a whole perspective. That perspective being, they had used El for her powers only to dispose the girl once they no longer needed her. Hopper remembers trying to drink away his guilt all those years ago. He'd sometimes take a trip to the woods and place some eggo waffles in a wooden box, Mike had told him that she was fond of them.

Here she sat opposite to him. She looked scared and distracted… then curious to bored. He noticed that her mood seemed to switch regularly. Two minutes ago, she was staring out of the window looking terrified but now she was entertaining herself by tapping a pencil against the wooden table like a musical instrument. She'd been sat without talking in the room with him for about ten minutes and barely even acknowledged his presence. Hopper cleared his throat to catch her attention. This startled El as she quickly moved her head to look at him with an alert expression.

"Do you remember me?" Hopper asked, breaking the silence. El just glared at him, still angry with him for disturbing her.

"I'm the chief, chief Hopper..." He tried to rejog her memory or at the very least get a response from her. She then spotted a fly trying to enter through the closed glass window and got quickly distracted by it.

"Eleven." Hopper said calmly. After about ten seconds El switched her attention back to Hopper and replied.

"Why you call El?" She asked with her broken vocabulary. It took him a moment to understand what she was asking.

"Because that's what your friends call you" Hopper stated simply.

"Friend" El repeated smiling. She knew that word; someone you'd do anything for… and something about spit. El was far beyond questioning where she'd remember words from, there are just too many.

"Yeah... friends. You remember them?" Hopper asked her. El looked back at the fly that continued to bang itself against the closed window, she giggled a little. Hopper just looked confused.

"El" He said, re-getting her attention for what felt like the millionth time. _Jesus, I feel like I'm speaking to a toddler_ Hopper thought.

"Yes?" El asked sweetly.

"Do you remember your friends?" Hopper said in a frustrated tone as she was quickly using up his patience. El thought to herself for a moment. She remembered someone, a boy, he called her pretty once. Well he kind of called her pretty.

"Hey Hopper I'm he-" Mike lost his voice as he stared at the small girl sat in a seat opposite his boss. His jaw dropped slightly and his eyes began to water. He rubbed his eyes to make sure that his mind wasn't playing a cruel joke on him, but she was still there. His shocked expression turned into a heart-breaking smile as a tear escaped his eye.

"El" He breathed. El tilted her head as she sized him up, she knew she recognised him from somewhere. Oh yeah, her dreams. It's the boy from her dream, the one who called her pretty… good. His name is... Mick? No Mike!

"Mike! You real!" She beamed happily.

"Uh-um yeah" Mike said as he took a step towards her, slightly confused but none the less, overjoyed to have her back. El just giggled a little before going back to tapping the pencil again the table. Mike had never heard her laugh before, it was the sweetest sound to him. But still, he was confused. He looked at Hopper for guidance. Jim just shrugged.

"El, I've missed you… like a lot" Mike said, taking a seat beside her.

"Dream boy?" She asked, to further Hopper and Mike's confusion. Hopper sighed.

"Remember the girl who ran away from Willowbrook State...?" Hopper asked Mike hesitantly. That's when it clicked.

"El… do you remember me?" he asked her, scared to know the answer.

"Mike" She smiled.

"W- why did you ask if I was real?" He asked her carefully

"dream boy…" El told him, now also feeling confused. Hopper just shook his head. Maybe it would have been wise of him to ask _why_ she was admitted to the hospital. Mike looked at El looking a little disappointed, El intently felt bad which was evident by her expression with her wide eyes looking up at him with confusion and sadness. _Those eye's!_ Mike thought to himself. He couldn't hold back the urge anymore. He quickly pulled her up from her seat and enveloped her into a bear hug. He'd missed her so much. It felt so good to have her in his arms. Usually when somebody would reach to make physical contact with El, especially spontaneously, El would be startled and instantly push said person away. But this felt different. She felt safe in this boy's warm embrace, she didn't want to let go. All the sudden she had a flashback.

 _'I'm Mike, short for Michael, maybe we could call you El, short for Eleven'_ She suddenly remembered.

"Mike" She whispered as she started to cry into his arms, no longer feeling giddy or like she was living a dream, but like a whole in her life had been filled, a hole she never knew was there. Mike parted from her so that he could see her properly. He noticed that she'd hardly grew since he'd last seen her. Besides her hair, Mike really couldn't see much of a difference and it in a way concerned him. Her hair had grown though… not much. Maybe she cut it. Either way he liked it. El noticed that Mikes former straight locks of dark hair had seemingly gone wild. She noticed that his facial features were more defined and he grew a hell of a lot. Mike stood at 5ft 10 inches.

"Eleven, Mike?" Hopper started.

"El" She corrected, her tone taking Mike by surprise.

" _El_ and Mike, we should probably sort out this mess" Hopper told them.

"What mess?" Mike asked.

"An hospital patient escapee who stole from a sore, that mess" Hopper reminded.

"Oh… right…" Mike's smile dropped. All of the sudden El spoke up.

"Please no go back" She pleaded giving her best puppy eyes. Mike looked at her with pity.

"Don't worry El, you're going to come and stay with me" Mike said while smiling at her adoringly, lightly stroking his thumb over the palm of her small hand. El shyly smiled at him.

"Excuse me Mike, can we talk outside for a moment?" Hopper interrupted. Mike nodded.

"Stay here, I'll be right back" Mike whispered to El before exiting the room.

"Mike, you can't just take her. She's a hospital patient for a reason." Hopper told him frustrated.

"Well what's the reason?" Mike groaned. Hopper had to chose his words carefully, he could already sense tension between him and Mike and saw how protective he was of her.

"Mike, she's ill. She needs to be in a facility that will help her." Jim explained.

"Well, how long has she been at the hospital" Mike crossed his arms.

"Five years" Suddenly Mike's heart dropped. She'd be stuck in that place only twenty minutes away from him for _five years!_

"That's a long time… has she made improvement or are they just taking care of her?" Mike asked.

"What?"

"What I just asked. Is she there because she needs to be in constant sight of doctors or because she needs keeping an eye on due to her mental state and they have nobody else to do that?" Mike pressed.

"Mike, what are you trying to ask" Hopper squinted his eyes.

"Ugh! What I'm asking is, is it really necessary for her to be in hospital? Is she dangerous to herself or others and needs locking away from society and is in need of constant medical attention or does she just need somebody to care for her? Mike was now getting frustrated, why wasn't his question being answered.

"Well I suppose we could speak to Mr. Westley about that" Hopper suggested. He hadn't read into El's case much before tracking her because he wasn't to know who she was. What Mike was saying did make sense though, their cant be much reason for them to hold her in their facility unless she was a danger. While being trapped in the hospital leaves her being dependant of them, that's not to say that out in the real world she wouldn't be able to learn to fend for herself if she was to be taught how. To Hopper her behaviour seems kind of manic and childlike, as if she was suffering from a mental age delay or just a temporary episode. After realising she knew Mike, her behaviour shifted from giddy to more normal in a sense, as if reality had hit. It's not as if Eleven had really lived considering shed been kept locked away from society her entire life therefore maybe she just had a lot to learn on presenting and taking care of herself.

"Ok son, I will see what I can do" Hopper ruffled Mikes tangles knots.

"Thank you" Mike said appreciatively with the widest smile. El was back.

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 _ **Should I continue?**_


	3. (3) Starting A New

**_I'm sorry that it took me so long to update but here's the next chapter. If there's any specific way that you'd like the story to play out or if you have a problem with the way I write the characters please tell me. Read and review :)_**

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"What's that" Mike asked cheerfully, pointed to something El had drew on an unused notepad that Mike had handed to her to keep her entertained while Hopper speaks with the hospital staff.

"N-nasty doctor" El replied hesitantly. Mike gave her a look of concern.

"Why are they nasty, what did they do El?" He questioned in a calm voice while tracing finger along her forearm, she seemed to like it when he did that. El glanced at him for a second before going back to her drawing, Mike was about to try and press further but he then noticed that the 'mean doctor' she had drawn was holding a long stick. Mike decided to keep quiet, it seemed to him that he'd get more information through her drawing, something he took a mental note of as it would probably be useful considering her little use of words. He observed her draw silently. El then drew another figure that was considerably much shorted than the one she'd drawn previously. Unlike the 'mean doctor' with his wide smile and no hair, the shorter figure had a big sad face drawn on. El picked up a blue colouring pencil and drew long blue lines coming from the small figure's eyes, they looked like tears. Mike decided that now was a good time to try and question her, not that she'd drawn enough to give Mike an idea of what seemed to be going on in her drawing.

"El baby?" Mike spoke up softly. He'd never called her 'baby' or any pet name before but he liked the way it sounded, 'babe' didn't sound right to him when referring to El, he didn't know why but her purity made it feel… not right. Not yet anyway.

"Yes Mike" She answered sweetly, un effected by the nickname, looking up at him with her pretty doe eyes.

"What's happening in your drawing?" He asked her. She then looked down, ignoring the question. Mike was about to press further before-

"So I just got off of the phone with Mr Doctor Westley" Hopper announced as he re entered the plain white interrogation room. Mike was quick to switch his focus to Hopper, not that his question to El was unimportant but it could wait. All he wanted right now was to take El home and cuddle her to sleep, keep her safe away from the 'mean doctor', shield and protect her from all evil of the world.

"What did he say?" Mike asked impatiently.

"He says there happy to release her to you but-"

Mike cut him off, "Did you hear that El, you can come home with me!" Mike said joyfully, voice full of excitement. El beamed happily.

"But!" Hopper needed to finish the sentence before some major decisions were made. "They're legal procedures that need to take place" He finished.

"Legal procedures… such as?" Mike asked confused.

"Mike, if she's to go home with you then she's officially your responsibility by law. Due to her mental state she needs to legally have a guardian, she needs taken care of 24/7 until doctors and authorities decide that she's well enough to take care and responsibility for herself." Hopper told him seriously.

"Guardian?" Mike asked confused.

"Yes Mike, a guardian. She'd be released into your care making any crimes she may commit, injures she gets and stuff like that your responsibility" He told him. Mike wasn't sure that he'd like to be referred to as El's guardian, it felt strange to him considering his 'special' feelings for her. He knew that she wasn't yet ready for 'adulthood' and dating but its not something that he hasn't considered for the future. He always had the thought of marriage and having children in the back of his mind and specifically with El. Mike decided that he needed to stop thinking about the future for the moment, weather El would ever be able to understand those things and most of all want them of course. Right now, all El needed was someone to care for her and Mike was happy that he finally had her back in his life, girlfriend or not, he loves her. Hopper noticed his unsure look and spoke up a second time as Mike was so caught up in his thought that he didn't respond.

"You can think of it as being a carer, like you would for someone who was in a wheelchair and needed assistance, you don't have to see it as 'babysitting' all you need to do is keep her safe and out of trouble, I reckon you'd be able to teach her enough in a matter of weeks for her to no longer legally require care, she just needs someone to teach her" Hopper told him. Mike smiled, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. In reality all he'd be doing would be keeping her out of trouble and making sure she takes her medication, something he'd do anyway. Mike nodded and Hopper handed him some paper to sign.

"Usually they'd do a background check but I already got that covered" Hopper smiled.

"Thank you" Mike handed the papers back to Hopper. "Now what?" Mike questioned, unsure of their next move.

"Well I guess you can take her home" Hopper told him.

"It's that simple, they'll just let me take her?" Mike asked in disbelief.

"The hospital funding is pretty low, the less patients, the less money it cost them…" Jim shrugged.

"Well then… I guess I will see you tomorrow" Mike smiled.

"No Mike, you take the rest of the week off and help her adjust" Hopper ordered. He had plenty of other staff and he'd put El's well being before him needing an extra pair of hands. Besides, Hopper wasn't sure that he'd plan to do with El, bring her to work? Leave her alone?

"But sir… I need the money" Mike said honestly, Will and Mike only just managed to scrape by but money was still tight.

"It covered!" Hopper chuckled. "Now go, Els practically falling asleep" Mike looked over at a tired El rubbing her eyes with her fist, she looked cute.

"Ok then… bye hop" Mike smiled, offering his hand to El who took it willingly along with the notebook that she didn't plan on leaving behind. Its not like she owned anything she treasured practically everything she owned.

"Bye" El said tiredly to Hopper as Mike led her to his car.

Once in the car Mike showed her how to put on a seatbelt, something that he was astonished by the fact that she was yet to learn how to do.

"See, and pull it over and click it in" Mike demonstrated. El mimicked his action and had put on a seatbelt for the first time. Then she panicked… she was trapped, how would she get out? What if she was stuck here forever? She started wining and thrashing around a little until Mike grabbed her attention and soothed her. "Look El" He then showed her how to undo the seatbelt and El did the same then sighed with relief.

"But El, when we're in the car we have to wear the seatbelt, when we're getting out of the car we then undo the seatbelt. Understand?" El nodded sheepishly. Mike then re-did her seatbelt then instead of instructing El to do the same, waited until she realised what he was waiting for her to do. She put her seatbelt then looked at Mike for reassurance. Mike smiled lovingly down at her and nodded, El smiled back.

"Let's get home" Mike said excitedly. This all seamed so unreal, so sudden. Only a few hours ago he believed that she was dead and had been for the past years and now she was right beside him, and always will be.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Coming soon**_


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